This invention relates to the dynamic enhancement of fluid flow rates in a porous medium, using pressure and strain pulsing. The invention relates to devices and methods designed to explicitly enhance the flow rate of fluids (liquids or gases) and mixtures of fluids and solids (e.g. oil and sand particles) in porous media by means of application of pressure pulsing or strain pulsing to the region of flow. The pressure pulsing is applied to the liquid phase of a porous medium through periodic cycling of liquid volumes by mechanical, hydraulic, or pneumatic devices at one or more points. Strain pulsing can similarly be applied through mechanical or electromechanical excitation. The two processes are intimately linked in that a pressure pulse generates a strain pulse, and vice-versa. Dynamic enhancement of fluid flow rate can be applied to the following technologies:
Flow of liquids or liquid-solid mixtures to wellbores in petroleum or water extraction processes from porous media.
Flow of liquids or liquid-solid mixtures in porous media to wells, sumps or other pressure sinks during cleaning of contaminated shallow aquifers comprised of sand, gravel, or fractured rock.
Flow of liquids or liquid-solid mixtures in contained or natural porous media beds used for chemical engineering reaction processes, filtration, refining, cleaning, or other processes where liquids or liquid-solid mixtures are flowing from one point to another under the effect of a pressure or gravity-induced gradient.